My invention serves to provide a transparent protective cover for glass pharmaceutical vials to be implemented in hospitals, pharmacies, clinics and the like, as well as provide a transparent protective cover for patients' own medications stored within glass pharmaceutical vials in the home setting.
A glass pharmaceutical vial is a glass vessel or bottle of varying shapes and sizes, often used to store medications in the form of liquids, powders, and gels, as well as tablets, caplets or capsules. They can also be used as scientific sample vessels; for instance, in auto-sampler devices used for analytical chromatography.
A glass pharmaceutical vial can be tubular, have a bottle-like shape with a neck, or exist in segmented Act-O-Vial or ampoule forms. The bottom of a glass pharmaceutical vial is usually flat, unlike test tubes, which usually have a rounded bottom. Several different methods are used to close the top of glass pharmaceutical vials, including a screw cap or threaded dropper/pipette, a cork or plastic stopper, or a rubber stopper with a securing metal cap.
Vial-like glass containers date back to classical antiquity. Glass pharmaceutical vials have been implemented universally in both human and veterinary medicine as a means of medication storage due to the chemistry of many medications and the potential for vials made of other materials to negatively interact with the contained medications. Glass pharmaceutical vials prevent many chemical interactions and have proven to be an effective means of containing a vast array of medications.
Glass, however, does present a set of issues that do require attention. These issues stem primarily from glass being fragile and easily breakable. This poses a threat to the safety of medical and veterinary staff and their patients. Shattered glass pharmaceutical vials may result in injury to patients or professional staff related to direct contact with the resulting sharp edges of shards of the broken glass pharmaceutical vial. Additionally, direct skin contact with a potentially hazardous substance that is otherwise contained within the unbroken glass pharmaceutical vial may result in a dangerous reaction to a person's skin or bodily systems. Furthermore, cracked yet intact glass pharmaceutical vials may allow pathogens to enter the glass pharmaceutical vial and impair the integrity of the medication, which may lead to medical or veterinary professionals and their patients being at risk for hospital acquired conditions.
Another issue presented by fragile glass pharmaceutical vials that might easily be broken is the cost of replacing the medications lost due to a shattered glass pharmaceutical vial. This has proven to be quite costly for patients and hospitals, with the cost of some medications reaching upwards of about $30,000 per vial, such as H.P. Acthar.
Additionally, glass is significantly more costly than plastic in terms of materials used, processes to manufacture and packaging required to ensure against breakage during handling/shipping/delivery.
While a variety of protective glass container devices exist and are in use today, it can be seen that many improvements in the field are desired.
Typical previous solutions related to the problem of glass container breakage have included variations of a continuous cylindrical shape made of resilient material into which the container is inserted (e.g. Tobias patent #7334698 or Knaack application #2009/0107947 or Morlan application #2009/0101659 or Grabenkort patent #4948000) as well as variations of a flat shaped sheet of material that is meant to be wrapped around a container (e.g. Carroll application #2006/0231562 or White application #20130020223 or Hall et. al. application #2005/0103795)
Much of the prior art is lacking in a complete covering of the glass pharmaceutical vial due to either viewing windows or ornamental portals designed into the side wall, or the complete lack of material covering the bottom of the glass pharmaceutical vial, thus failing to effectively protect the glass pharmaceutical vial in its entirety. Neither does the prior art include a design that allows the clear and undistorted viewing of the glass pharmaceutical vial in its entirety as well as medication labels and substances contained within the glass pharmaceutical vial without compromising any protective features. Neither does the prior art include a design that allow for scanning of barcodes that may be attached to the glass pharmaceutical vial, or viewing and scanning of additional hospital placed labeling that may contain specific data related to any instance of a glass pharmaceutical vial (i.e. patient info, dosage info, what medication it contains, safe handling and disposal information, etc.). Furthermore, hospital labels tend to be lengthy, and in this instance my invention would allow said label to be extended through the slit in the sidewall to allow for clear and easy viewing of said label in its entirety. This feature provides convenience to medical and veterinary staff and their patients as opposed to needing to wrap the label around the glass pharmaceutical vial before insertion into a protective cover and subsequent removal of the vial cover to unwrap and read said label.
Prior art does not sufficiently address the process of an easy insertion and removal of the glass pharmaceutical vial necessary to maintain safe and efficient handling of the glass pharmaceutical vial. Many provide for a sliding insertion/removal process which does not ensure a secure containment of the glass pharmaceutical vial. Neither does the prior art allow for the use of a single protective sleeve for a variety of shapes/sizes of glass vials. Others provide a separate cover or cap to be secured to a lower cylindrical shaped container, creating additional and unnecessary complications in the number of parts required to make-up a complete protective device, thus creating inventory complications due to a multitude of parts and the necessity of stocking matching parts in order to complete the protective sleeve device. Others are characterized by a self-limiting nature in regard to accommodating various sizes and shapes of glass pharmaceutical vials due to their unyielding structure and design.
What is required for improved protection from breakage of glass vials is a device and method whereby the glass pharmaceutical vial is sufficiently surrounded by a transparent, resilient material so as to not allow any hard surface to directly contact the glass material making up the pharmaceutical vial. Ideally, this transparent, resilient protective device should provide a means of protection for glass pharmaceutical vials in an efficient and appropriate manner while meeting additional needs of its users such as medical and veterinary professionals in the clinical setting as well as patients in the home setting. It should allow for easy insertion, secure containment and easy removal of the glass pharmaceutical vial. It should furthermore accommodate a reasonable variance in size and/or shape of contained glass pharmaceutical vials to minimize the need for a design specific to each of the many glass pharmaceutical vial shapes and sizes currently available on the market. It should allow for scanning of glass pharmaceutical vial barcodes in the clinical setting. It should accommodate placement and clear and undistorted viewing of hospital placed labels. It should allow for safe storing of glass pharmaceutical vials in automated dispensing units. It should allow for autoclaving and reuse of the cover. It should be hypo allergenic and microbe resistant. It should protect the glass pharmaceutical vial and its contents from infiltration of pathogens and subsequent impairment of their integrity. It should reduce cost for the clinic and the patient related to unnecessary repeat purchases of medications lost as a result of shattering or cracking of glass pharmaceutical vials. It should allow for clear and undistorted viewing of the glass pharmaceutical vial contents as well as any markings on the glass pharmaceutical vial that may indicate the name of the contents, the concentration of the contents, the level of the remaining contents, the patient to whom it is assigned, the inventory control features, and other indicia as required in the industry.
None of the prior art discloses or addresses all of these issues which are resolved by my invention, nor do they afford the benefits specifically designed into my invention.